i derive great thrill and pleasure when i discover handmade collections, in any type of media, where i can find emotion or humor interwoven with that beauty and cleverness i yearn for. don’t you think when those elements combine, a certain alchemy is created which serves as a throughway to the personality of the hand behind the work? i do. and i like that connection. that’s why i am really enjoying these illustrations from stuttgart-based artist tilman faeker. the restrained color selections compliment the delicate line work and subtlety in the subjects he chooses, and it all flows, one piece into another into another. when i finish looking i want to look again because i don’t want to miss anything. as it turns out, tilman provided me with some illuminating thoughts on the subject of handmade work too…

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q: have you always been drawing, even as a child?

a: truth is, i hadn’t done any proper drawings for about 15 years when i went out of art school/university. while studying i was doing a lot of film and interactive media-related stuff (3d animation, sound design, sound art, etc.). everything was very artsy with a lot of theoretical issues involved, and illustration was never a subject.

after i finished my studies, i realized that i was always missing something in my work, which in fact was some kind of manual labour. i couldn’t imagine spending the next 30 years in front of a computer screen pushing around pixels the whole day or becoming some kind of new media artist who does stuff that only other artists can relate to, because they read the same books. i then remembered how it felt to draw, the combination of rational decisions and subconsciousness (there is this saying that drawing is seeing), working with materials and with your own hands, not having to operate a computer and its software all the time… so i started to draw again, put together a portfolio and started shopping it around.

q: can you tell us a little about your process?

a: i draw everything by hand first, then scan it and then put the different pieces together digitally and colorize them. i’m not so happy about this part, but it is very economical.

q: what appeals to you most about illustration?

a: the best part of this work is that everyone can relate to it. you can look at an illustration and just like the colors or the quality of the lines – regardless of the visual conceptÂ – or you can approach it in an intellectual way, when you try to “read” it.

you can see more from tilman on his website. he’s producing some reasonably priced limited edition prints too, and you can find those right here.

I think this little suction cup wall hook, designed by Dominik Langhammer for Germany’s intriguing Loony Design, is terrifically useful as well as cute and hilarious. And the fact that its name is Mr. Wilson just makes me laugh even harder — so formal! As you can see, it’s made out of a tennis ball and has most excellent grommet eyes. The functional mouth serves to hold your hand towel, keychain, magic bean collection – or whatever else you think could fit in his mighty mouth.

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FYI, Loony Design is a joint project of the Industrial Design degree course at the State Academy for Fine Arts in Stuttgart and the Evangelical Charitable Mission in Baden. Students from the Academy develop exclusive designs for everyday objects, which are produced by people with mental disorders living and working in centers run by the mission. That’s quite a provocative name for this venture if you ask me, but the collaboration has produced many other playful and functional design work.

Loony ships within Germany and also to other EU countries if you are over on the continent. If you’re in the States, try the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. And see a lot more for yourself right here on the Loony Design site.

if you like hefty but minimal looking beds, i am sure you will enjoy the many styles from germany’s zack design. they’re made of high quality beech, walnut or cherry wood, and many of the styles have thoughtful details like attached lights or side tables.

i appreciate the flush and rounded corners on these styles, because no one wants to crack their knee on a corner if they have to get up in the middle of the night.

wow, look at these innovative angled cornerframes from yvonne schroeder for the german company details. these would be great for dead corners or spots in homes where mechanicals have been hidden behind drywall.

look at this cool bravit candle from christophe van bÃ¶mmel for germany’s authentics. the arrangement of the wicks in the center of this paraffin candle forms a design that is visible through the wax. as the candle evolves through the various phases of burning, the design is traced by the burning wicks. depending on the pattern and size you select, you’ll see up to five different flames burning dramatically and transforming the original shape and size of the candle.

if you like spacing out while staring at candles, these pretty patterns might provide hours of entertainment.

i like this paon collection of simple porcelain bathroom accessories, from kazuhiko tomita for germany’s authentics. i like the simplicity and organic style (and the fact that they have elephant trunks doesn’t hurt either).

i’m enchanted by this quirky sterling and 24k gold plated vegetable jewelry from berlin’s britta knÃ¼ppel and verena kern for their otto von quast design company. these pieces were all made from real veggies, so each one is unique. choose from broccoli, cauliflower or a variety of peas.

hold on – jewelry is not the only offbeat thing they design! check out their clever porcelain pieces (made with cardboard forms that burn away during the firing process) and funny little tags that can be sewn into your clothes:

to purchase and see the rest of britta’s and verena’s collection, hop onto their website.

do you need an art fix today? i do, so please enjoy the mixed media collages and paintings from german artist jolina anthony.

hmmm, perhaps i spoke too soon about the bright colors in my prior post, because i am loving those wintry white pieces. i am feeling these heavily textured works; the drips, the rings and their loose, free from worry intention. they’re calm, cool and collected, but with depth; they reveal little bits of time and seem to orate secret stories that float around in our heads when we are (i am?) daydreaming.